PM's laptop is bugged says CIA.

A terrifying article. {source south asia tribune website)

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Secret Indian Agencies Spying on Coalition Partners of Congress Government

By Arun Rajnath

NEW DELHI, May 18: Indian security agencies are not only spying on people suspected as threats to Indian internal and external security, they are also using an archaic law to spy on the political allies and partners in the ruling Congress coalition government, well informed sources of the Home Ministry have revealed.

The latest hi-tech method being used by these agencies is to hack into the computer systems and networks of political parties and install spyware programs which constantly monitor and relay critical data, a qualified source told the South Asia Tribune.

Their work has become easier as the government provides laptops to all the members of Parliament and the Secretariat of the Parliament provides computer training to all the MPs. But obviously most of them cannot understand the technology or the hidden secrets planted by hackers inside their computers.

Sources said recently one of the most dangerous spyware programs was detected in some of the systems provided to the politicians. When installed, this program sleeps undetected and can be activated by remote control whenever the computer is connected online. It can help the monitoring agency to even take control of the computer, if so desired.

Spying agents immediately get access to all files and folders from where they can copy all vital information, including documents, e-mail messages, e-mail addresses, Internet links, bank details, credit card details or anything stored in the computer.

Sources say only a few top authorized persons of the Government know about these condemnable activities as these agencies are not accountable to the Home Minister. They are directly under the control of the Prime Minister and report to his National Security Advisor.

While the United States put together its aggressive Patriot Act after 9/11, the Indians have had a highly intrusive piece of legislation for years to invade the privacy of its citizens and politicians.

The law which allows spying on innocent populace is the Indian Telegraph Act, which has not been amended to provide safeguards against misuse, but is being increasingly used even though the Government keeps harping on the theme of more rights for the people including obtaining information under the recently adopted Freedom of Information Act.

Home Ministry sources, talking to the South Asia Tribune about the use, and in many cases misuse, of the Telegraph Act, have been giving details of the many ways in which the agencies have been operating, including what was being done to infiltrate the journalists community or how the Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan were used for spying while visiting their holy sites in Pakistan.

These sources disclosed that under the Telegraph Act, one Indian sensitive agency was desperately searching for Indian journalists who could ‘legally infiltrate’ into Pakistan like these Sikh pilgrims. The agency also wants to employ journalists who could project the Indian point of view in the international media.

The Indian Telegraph Act empowers the sensitive agencies to monitor communications, record conversations, intercept postal mail usually from Pakistan to India and vice versa, of any ordinary citizen on the pretext of internal and national security.

According to a rough estimate, about 10,000 letters are intercepted daily by these sensitive agencies across the country. All the telephonic conversations at civilian residences near sensitive areas, viz. cantonment, official bungalows, etc are routinely monitored.

This job is being carried out by a sensitive agency that has a responsibility of internal security. This agency is located at the Sardar Patel Road in the Capital City of Delhi, and is directly accountable to the National Security Advisor of the Indian Prime Minister. This agency has the additional responsibility to keep vigil on all political parties, including the allies and partners in the ruling coalition.

The sources of the Home Ministry confided to this correspondent that every time Sikh pilgrims went to Pakistan to visit Panja Sahib or other religious places, the sensitive agencies used to send their agents with the Jatthas (groups) masquerading as pilgrims.

In past years, Sikh activists struggling for an independent state of Khalistan, routinely spoke to members of these Jatthas at the holy site of Panja Sahib. This was when the militancy in Indian Punjab was at its peak. This practice started during the regime of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Agents also kept an eye on their fellow pilgrims to find out who was meeting whom during their visits to Pakistan.

The agency is now trying to hire local journalists who could project their viewpoint in international media and who could be sent to Pakistan and other targeted countries on personal visits or with the delegations.

This was revealed when a Delhi based journalist received a call from a so-called Media Cell of the Home Ministry. The caller appreciated his write-ups and expressed the wish to meet him. The journalist was taken aback as no one had given his numbers to the caller. The journalist scanned his computer system and found a spyware secretly installed.

He decided to meet the person who had called him from the so-called Media Cell. The agent urged him to publish anti-Pakistan news that would be supplied to him. If he agreed, the journalist was offered foreign tours along with the Prime Minister. The journalist, who also contributes to a newspaper published from a Gulf country, was also offered a monthly payment ranging from Rs3200 to Rs10,000.